So I've been a member since 2001, and have gone through a lot of experimenting and products over the years. Gave up and started straightening a while ago to look more professional. Here's the thing though--it is summer time. I just spent a weekend in South Carolina and my straightened hair was bigger than my mom's perm an hour after I did it. I am traveling to Italy next week where it is super hot and the last thing I want to do is to straighten every day. So I'll let it curl. However I really REALLY hate my hair looking wet--it makes me feel sloppy and yucky. How do I make it wavy and not wet?

by the way, this board was not here when I first joined, and I haven't looked at hair discussion in years, but this is a great idea!

What curly style are you going for and what are your biggest problem area's? For instance, I need moisture and like curl enhancing. A lot of wavies hair gets weighed down. Mine doesn't. Does yours? I am having good luck with a cream layered under gel. I get a really natural look with re:coil (curl enhancing) mixed with Long Lovely Locks Coco Light (conditioning and aids in spreadablility of re:coil). I then layer a little Angell or Back to Nature Rosemary Mint Clean Gel over that combo.

I guess using a cream under the gel would make sense... I have layers, a little below my shoulders, and my main problem is frizz. my hair is so fine that it just flies away, all over, and frizzes, and looks all big. with the right product hair underneath will go into corkscrews but top will stay wavy, which is fine with me as long as frizz is gone. problem is it never goes away--once again, the fine little hairs all over the place. so i need clumping AND control, but also in major need of frizz-fighting... looking at my chosen name, I guess things havn't changed for my hair in the last 4 years...

I just spent a weekend in South Carolina and my straightened hair was bigger than my mom's perm an hour after I did it.

Hahahaha... oh yes, SC is hell on hair.

I like to use Proclaim Aloe Gel, then Aussie Tizz No Frizz and occasionally a very small amount of Herbal Essences Humidity Defying Gel. I don't get the wet hair look from this at all [I hate that too]. Just go heavy on the Proclaim, lgith to medium with the Aussie, and only a dab of the HE mixed into the Aussie.

I am really curious about this, too. Like Frizzywaves, I've been straightening lately because the only thing that works well for me that isn't "bad" for my hair is Ouidad CC. I get great waves/ curls with the CC, but it give me the wet look until about noon. I HATE THAT. I hate that my hair looks untouchable. So I straighten. But I live in Savannah, haven of humidity, and I'm travelling to Orlando this week. My other big pet peeve is using more than one styler (i.e. multiple gels). I don't mind using two different types of products. A cream and a gel, and gel and a pomade, or a gel and a spray might be all right. I just hate having all that extra stuff.

csb:
Small world... I'm from the Sav area and I'm in Orlando now. Hehe. I promise you, you will want as little to do with heat styling tools as humanly possible here! It's a waste of time anyway. On the brightside... I tend to get less halo frizz here with my curls than up there using the same or similar products and routines.

Thanks for the warning, meriellyn. We'll be doing some of that theme park stuff, so I wasn't planning on straightening. I just want my hair to look touchable. And I don't want to carry 14 products in my suitcase. I think 2-3 stylers is my max. Did I mention that I also hate crunch? And irritating botanicals? I'm realizing that, as a consumer, I'm pretty high maintenance....

I find that if I don't have the wet look, it looks frizzy. I try and experiment to get it in the middle, not frizzy and not crunchy.

I was in very humid weather last week in the outer banks and my hair looked awsome. what I style with is Jessicurl RR ( a creme) and then layer on top with a little bit of Aura hypo=allergenic styling gel ( same as Ouidad CC) and mix a tiny bit of ABBA weightless gel. I find that the weightless gel makes my hair cunchy but it also prevents frizz so I just use a tiny bit. I squish all of this into my hair when it is very wet. I have been doing this all summer and it seems to work well. Forget straightening- I did that one summer and the second I was out in the humididty- it was a poofy mess.